I had an incident occur on a LRP server where I was a bystander to what I thought was an illegal search. A security officer walked up to a masked man who was playing an arcade game in arrivals and batoned him without any conversation on green alert and cuffed him. I told the officer you need consent for search on green alert, but he found an esword during his search and he ended up being a stealth nukie justifying his search after the fact. The officer just told me “he fit a description” since his face was hidden. I told him looc in the moment and after in ooc that it was not a legal search, but was told by an admin that security can search people randomly by baton cuffing on any alert since space laws only applies to MRP. I’m just trying to clarify that security can indeed baton cuff search anyone they want at any time, but they can’t perform unauthorized executions or wrongful/too-long imprisonments. I understand this is a specific instance and perhaps things were happening I was not aware of, but still, my question stands. I’m used to playing on MRP from SS13 so forgive me if this seems obvious.
I’ll be brief on the extent of searches for LRP only:
RED/BLUE Alert - Security can randomly search anyone at any time, for any reason, so as long as it isn’t causing undue danger to the crew.
GREEN Alert - Green alert only forbids “random” searches. This would generally mean a search with no articulatable reason, cause, or pretense. A search on green alert must be done with “reasonable suspicion” that a crime occurred, is being committed, or may occur in the near future due to the circumstances. To establish reasonable suspicion, the officer should be able to present articulatable facts that makes them feel that searching the person may uncover evidence of a crime or may reveal contraband. Facts like this do not include a “gut feeling” or “intuition” that the offender should be searched, as well as opinions such as someone “looking suspicious” or “out of place”.
Immediately resorting to incapacitating weapons to perform a search can be done, however officers should be aware how this looks to bystanders and should avoid using them when compliance might be gained verbally instead. Depending on the potential danger presented by the offender, utilizing stunning weapons instead of making verbal contact may be the better option.
A few examples to help clear this up:
Ex 1: G. Tider is reported by a medical doctor to have stolen an ID card from a patient who was being treated. This report is corroborated by another doctor. G. Tider is seen leaving Medbay. You ask if G. Tider has stolen an ID, to which he says no. You ask if you can search him, which he says no since he doesn’t have a stolen ID. In this case, a search would be justified due to G. Tider being reported and identified as a person who potentially stole an ID by someone in Medbay. G. Tider’s proximity to Medbay and more than one person substantiating the claim also lend a lot of leeway to a search on green.
Ex 2: You hear over security radio that someone with yellow glove fibers broke into the detective’s office. Shortly after, you see a Musician, Rocks-the-Casbah, walking into a maintenance tunnel. While he did not appear to be wearing any gloves, you don’t recall seeing him in public areas doing his job and you feel like you saw him earlier nearby the detective’s office. All these factors considered, a search would not be justified since you lack any concrete evidence or facts to tie the musician back to the alleged crime. A search here would be considered random.
I don’t know the full context of this situation that took place, but provided the officer received enough information to potentially search this offender, it seems like a valid search.
Alright, these are the rules mostly as I understood them for LRP. The confusion, for me, comes from the reasonable suspicion part. I understand this is probably a grey area, but I assumed that reasonable suspicion has to be articulated to the warden/HoS before initiating a search (warrant issue) or at the very least on the security channel. Am I to understand that officers can simply search if they have a good reason to justify it to themselves (and the admins) as long as their reason falls outside of “intuition” without any conversation with anyone, even the accused?
Security can search so as long as they can justify it themselves based on the circumstances.